Those being seated for the main course in an upcoming progressive dinner will witness a view that often elicits gasps of amazement from the 30,000 people who visit the Kirtland Temple each year. The stately 1836 Temple is framed in a large window at the Kirtland Temple Visitors Center, brought to life after a video presentation and just before a walking tour of the National Historic Landmark, built high above their tiny village by early Mormon settlers of Kirtland. "People come from all over the world to take our tours, which last about an hour and take place every hour on the half hour," explained Ron Romig, director the Kirtland Temple Visitors Center. "This time of year the exterior lighting is coming on earlier and earlier." That means those at the dinner might have an extra treat. Hosted by the Historic Lake County Alliance, a consortium of area historical societies, the dinner on Sept. 21 includes wine and appetizers hosted by the Willoughby Hills Historical Society at the Willoughby Hills Community Center and dessert at Trinity House in Willoughby. Those at the dinner, which will be catered by the Kirtlander Party Center, won't have time to walk through the Temple itself, but Romig will talk about its history and how his Community of Christ Church today fits into the community. "Our legal name still is the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but we adopted Community of Christ as a more user-friendly name," Romig said. That name change took place in 2001. The Temple was completed in 1836 by the followers of Joseph Smith, who built it as the center of their community for worship and education. The huge blocks of stone used to build the structure on a hill overlooking the settlement in the valley were quarried from what is today Chapin Reservation, a few miles south on Route 306. Members of the early Mormon church hauled the huge blocks by horse- and mule-drawn wagons to the building site. The exterior of the Temple was made to sparkle in the sunshine by the application of a coating to which the crushed dinnerware of congregants had been added. Since 1959, the local church's congregation has worshipped in a building just across Chillicothe Road, which is the name by which Route 306 is known in Kirtland. "Although the Temple still hosts about 40 worship services a year, the world church has taken over maintenance of the Temple," Romig said. The local church now has about 120 members, and it would have been prohibitively expensive for it to continue to maintain the 177-year-old building. The Community of Christ, however, has 200,000 members throughout the world with 5,000 of them in the Eastern Great Lakes Mission, location of the Kirtland Temple. Many people don't understand that the Community of Christ, which operates the Temple, is a separate entity from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints, which operates Historic Kirtland in the valley below. "Today there are more than 200 expressions that have grown from the early Mormon church," Romig explained. Just about all of them consider the Temple to be a sacred place, a site vital to the church's early history. Many of those who visit the Temple also visit Historic Kirtland. They come by the bus load during summer months, although visitation typically tapers off in the winter. "But the Temple remains a centerpiece and a symbol of the Kirtland community," Romig said. "We host community worship services at Easter, Christmas and Thanksgiving, and give the community opportunities to raise money for the Kirtland Area Service League, the proceeds of which help those with special needs and provide Christmas baskets for those in need." In the last few years when Kirtland High School's football team has gone to the state playoffs, the Temple hosted a community worship service the evening before the big game. "We asked the Lord's blessing on the team," Romig said. Today, the historic house of worship is one of two National Historical Landmarks in Lake County and has been recognized by both The Architects Society of Ohio and The Ohio Historical Society. Once the main meal is done, progressive dinner participants will head to Willoughby, where they will hear about the difficult decisions made by Trinity Lutheran Church to restore a 1916 brick English Tudor house that had once served as its parsonage. "We had to decide whether to demolish or renovate the building," said Dr. Ron Taddeo, a member of the church as well as several Historic Lake County Alliance groups. Its location in an historic district near Downtown Willoughby meant strict limits on what could be done. But an increasingly smaller congregation took a leap of faith and decided to share the burden and borrow the money needed to renovate the lovely old house, where dessert will be served to those in the progressive dinner. To better contain the expense, church members scraped paint, cleared the jungle that had grown up around the house and performed other tasks. "The resurrection of Trinity House is not just the story of a restoration," said Taddeo. "It's not just bricks and mortar, but people of a church making choices and investing themselves in the decisions."

PROGRESSIVE HISTORY DINNER Thursday is the deadline to reserve a $40 spot in the three-stop progressive dinner on Sept. 21 by the Historic Lake County Alliance. Diners can go by bus, leaving from the parking lot at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, or drive themselves. Those on the bus will get a narrated tour about places critical to the history of western Lake County. Ticketholders will be sent a postcard each must bring on Sept. 21 night for admission to the venues. Order tickets by phone from the Lake County Historical Society at 440-639-2945. ?

Advertisement

About the Author

Janet's a features veteran, covering food, travel, religion & health and knows the area, people & events. Her travels include Myanmar, Greenland & Europe. Her expertise lies in scuba, cooking & wines. Reach the author at JPodolak@News-Herald.com
or follow Janet on Twitter: @JPodolakatwork.